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Expansion of Boulder’s Upslope Brewing Company

Boulder seems to be a hotspot for breweries, and the expansion of new breweries is by no means slowing down. Upslope, a local Boulder brewery, serves as a great example of how breweries in Boulder are continuing to grow. This local brewery had just opened their first brewhouse in north Boulder during the winter of 2008. In a short period, Colorado’s high demand for Upslope’s canned craft beers required for their production to expand. This just goes to show that dedication and a great tasting beer can propel breweries to success in Boulder, Colorado.

Only two years after Upslope’s opening, they decided that they needed to expand their brewhouse. Upslope brewery expanded into the warehouse space nearby their existing brewhouse in order to double their space to 4,400 square feet. With this expansion, this local brewery was able to increase production to 5,600 barrels of beer from its 7-barrel brewhouse at the end of last year. Yet again, they recently hit capacity for production and Matt Cutter, an Upslope co-founder, said, “A year ago last August, we’re sitting at Lee Hill and realized that the existing space was not going to be adequate for our future plans”.

In order to solve Upslope’s fortunate dilemma, they decided to open a second brewery, which just opened last week. This new brewery is a 17,000 square-foot facility with a 30-barrel brewhouse in east Boulder. Upslope’s east Boulder brewery is currently capable of producing 12,000 barrels, which is roughly 165,000 cases of beer a year. This expansion depicts the hard work they put in, and serves as an example of the local effects from the craft beer industry’s boom.

Not only are new breweries being established, but already established brewers are also expanding their operations or opening new breweries. “Some are definitely taking advantage of the opportunity to grow right now,” said Steve Kurowski, marketing manager for the Colorado Brewers Guild. According to the Brewers Association, a Boulder-based trade association that represents small and independent breweries, craft beer brewery sales increased from $8.7 billion in 2011, to $10.2 billion in 2012. Upslope brewing company is definitely a business that is taking advantage of the opportunity to grow right now, and sets a standard for up and coming breweries.